I'm a protestant - from birth - in a catholic country.

I'd day this point of view comes naturally from preaching, education and socialization. It's not hard to see how: if we understand life as a generous gift from God, it's only right that we perpetuate it. Most of the older people I know don't even care too much about this rationalization, they just think having children is a natural part of life.

That said, I have catholic girl friends that don't want to have children. There's some banter about it among relatives, but they're obviously not victimized by it. With my protestant friends, there's no pressure at all, for all I can see - although they're all yuppies, to be honest.

I see it more as a class issue, actually. From what my parents tell me from their church, it's the poorer girls who are eager to marry early and form what Americans call a "traditional family", being a homemaker and rearing children. The more affluent people are fine with having a good paying job and perhaps a double income - which does wonders here. My christian college friends who don't want to have children never reported any overwhelming pressure over it, and I always supposed this was an American thing.